K-8 art teacher in El Rio, California

Complementary Fruit

I found this project on this blog and was excited to try it with a class. We began by drawing a large circle as best we could. Then, using a ruler, students created a grid background. Students were then given a set of complementary colors. My favorite part of this lesson may be pretending to be the colors and “complementing” the other color.

For example, I hold up orange and say, “Oh blue! You look so lovely today!!”

Then I hold up the blue pastel and say, “Orange!!! You look so nice!”

The students usually giggle and I’m pretty sure it helps connect “complement” with “complementary colors”, because the colors are so nice to each other that they both shine and “pop” with each other.

Anyways, students trace their lines with pastels, then use watercolors to fill in the shapes. It’s also a great opportunity to create dark and light values with the watercolors by increasing or decreasing the amount of water.